OUR WORK
PAWS is your hub for animal welfare support services – 8 programs that help pets and their people
3
communities
2.4M
free Mutt Mitts distributed locally
56,676
dogs served at Sophie’s Place
Dog Park and the winter dog park.
1,300
spay and neuter
vouchers yearly
100
pets given safe shelter
from domestic violence
40
Disaster Animal Response
Team volunteers trained annually.
1,500
lives saved through
MedFund assistance.
9,025
shelter pets assisted
with funding, medical care,
dog training, & more.
49.8K
puppies and kittens prevented
by our spay surgeries alone
Click the Program tile below to navigate to the description
PREVENTION
Muffie Becks MedFund
Financial assistance for unexpected veterinary bills.
Whether a pet has an unfortunate accident or a sudden illness, this can sometimes mean financial hardship for local families. Our goal with this program is to reduce suffering and ensure that all local pets have access to veterinary care. This program is essential in keeping pets and their people together and in keeping our local shelter populations under control.
Local resident Hank Becks founded the Muffie Becks MedFund (named for his late wife) to help local families and their pets. The MedFund helps pay vet bills for stray pets and provides funding for individuals who are unable to pay their vet bills in Jackson, WY, Star Valley, WY and Teton Valley, ID.
Residents of our three local communities can apply here for MedFund and can use the program one time.
Spay & Neuter
Free or low-cost spay and neuter vouchers for local pets.
Spaying and neutering our pets is the single most important thing we can do to reduce the pet over-population crisis in the US. This is a financial assistance program which provides free or low cost vouchers to residents of Teton County, WY, Teton County, ID and Star Valley, WY. Just fill out the application and a PAWS representative will call you to discuss voucher options.
Please be sure to check in with your local veterinarian before using a voucher. Thanks to this program our local shelter populations are lower than they have ever been!
Trap-Neuter-Return
Within our three communities, Star Valley, Jackson, and Teton Valley, thousands of feral and stray cats roam freely and breed rapidly. Communicable diseases run rampant through these communities as they are easily transmitted through bites and breeding. These cats suffer due to disease, the elements, predation, and lack of food.
If you have feral or stray cats on your property, apply for our TNR program. Once we have your permission, the PAWS Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) team will set humane traps on your property. Traps are set at night and checked in the morning. The captured cats are transferred to a local vet to be assessed and spayed/neutered. After recovery cats are returned to their property. This program is free and we simply ask property owners to provide adequate shelter, food, and water for the cats.
PROTECTION
Pet Adoption & Support Services
PAWS of Teton Valley is here to serve the Teton Valley Community by offering a variety of animal shelter services: adoption/fostering, reunification of lost pets, accepting surrendered pets, plus spay/neuter and veterinary assistance. We are dedicated to providing shelter and care for homeless pets until permanent homes can be found. We rely entirely on donations from our community to cover all veterinary, training and operational expenses. Shelter Location & Details: 15 South 1750 East Driggs Idaho, 83422 208-354-3499 info@pawsoftv.org Public Hours: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM 7 days per week
SafePAWS
A safe haven for pets of victims of domestic abuse.
Studies show a clear link between domestic violence, child abuse, and abuse of animals. With more than 70% of women entering shelters reporting that their abusive partner also abused the pet, the SafePAWS shelter ensures that pets are not left behind in a violent home.
PAWS and Community Safety Network help protect pets and their people with a custom pet facility on the CSN campus. When we built the shelter in 2010, we were one of only 27 domestic violence shelters in the U.S. accepting pets. Today hundreds of domestic violence shelters allow pets because they know that pets are valuable members of the family and they are vulnerable to abuse. This is one of the many ways PAWS helps keep pets and their people together during crisis.
Call us for more information about SafePAWS. If you are seeking shelter for you and your pet, please call Community Safety Network at (307) 733-3711.
Disaster Animal Response Team (DART)
A pop-up shelter for local pets during a disaster.
PAWS’s DART Team is part of the Teton County Emergency Management response in both Wyoming and Idaho. If a natural disaster strikes our area, Emergency Management will activate PAWS to care for our community’s pets. The state-of-the-art Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) trailer is stocked with equipment and supplies needed to care for more than 150 local pets during an evacuation. Provisions inside the trailer allow us to construct a temporary animal shelter, along with food, water, medical necessities, crates, bowls, leashes, administrative supplies and cleaning equipment.
PAWS trains DART volunteers annually in case of emergency. Volunteers learn all the skills needed to run a temporary disaster animal shelter. See our Volunteer page to join our team!
PROMOTION
Dog Park
For the past 15-years PAWS has advocated for a permanent dog park in Jackson. The efforts were put on hold in October of 2021 by the Parks & Rec Department.
For information on how you can help advance dog parks, please send all inquires to:
Steve Ashworth, RLA
Jackson/Teton County Parks & Recreation, Executive Director
307.732.5752
You can also reach the Jackson Mayor and Town Council members at:
Education and Outreach
Trail ambassadors and outreach events promote good dogs and healthy communities.
PAWS knows that good dogs on shared trails and pathways create kind and considerate community interactions. This is why PAWS runs comprehensive education and outreach programming designed to foster good dogs, great owners, and healthy communal spaces. Each year, we have a team of trained Trail Ambassadors out on trails rewarding good behavior and spreading the “PAWS-itivity.” We even work with our local, friendly poop-fairies to be sure people are scooping with a smile! Want to join our volunteer Trail Ambassador team? Just click on the Volunteer button.
You can also look for our promotional videos . These fun, informative pieces remind everyone to be courteous and responsible when out with their pets.
Plus, we are thrilled to be partnering with elementary schools in Star Valley, WY and Teton Valley, ID on a humane education program which teaches kids about caring for pets.
PAWS Mutt Mitts
Cleaner trails through 150,000 free mutt mitts every year.
Our community loves the outdoors and our shared trails, pathways and public spaces are better because of mutt mitts. More than 75 mutt mitt stations in Teton County service 10,000 dogs and their owners. The stations are paid for and managed by PAWS, Parks & Recreation, Pathways, and various business and HOAs. Mutt mitts are free to everyone!
Each year, PAWS contributes 150,000 free mutt mitts to our community. To date, we’ve distributed 2.4 million free mutt mitts in the 25 stations we manage around town! We also sell mutt mitts and stations to local businesses and HOAs ($125 for a mutt mitt station and $12 for a sleeve of 100 mutt mitts). Call us if you’d like to install a mutt mitt station in your neighborhood.